Militarization of Outer Space as an International Legal Problem

Introduction. In the context of the aggravation of the international military-political situation, the issues of protecting national sovereignty and national security of Russia using various mechanisms of state policy come to the fore, including relying on the norms of international law governing the latest relations developing between states regarding the militarization of outer space. Due to the fact that this problem is far from being finally resolved, further research in this area is very relevant and determines the need for a scientific understanding of the problem of the militarization of outer space and the development of recommendations aimed at the further development of the system of international legal regulation in this area of interstate relations.
Materials and methods. The theoretical and empirical basis of the study is made up of international legal documents (primarily the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly), normative legal acts of international treaty law, foreign and domestic international legal literature. Based on the integrative approach to scientific legal research when writing the article, the following were used, in particular, general scientific and special methods of understanding legal phenomena and processes in the field of international law, namely, system-structural analysis; the method of synthesis of legal phenomena and processes of military-technological exploration of outer space; formal-logical method, as well as the method of norm-setting support for the processes of using space for military purposes.
Results of the study. The author identified two levels of military exploration of outer space, considered the problems of legal regulation of the use of anti-satellite weapons, and proposed directions for the formation of an agreement on control over antisatellite weapons. It is proposed to include in these agreements really important provisions that will give this area of international law real significance. In particular, it is possible to include in these agreements a provision on an international moratorium on kinetic tests of anti-satellite weapons systems, to designate certain orbital altitudes as security zones, where the placement of objects is possible only with the consent and under the control of international organizations.
Discussion and conclusions. The approaches proposed in the article are important for Russia and the world community, since they serve to specify steps that reduce the possibility of further militarization of outer space, and can be used as building blocks for creating codified rules for the use of outer space.
Russia, as a space power with serious capabilities in the field of using outer space for military purposes, should play a key role in this process, which requires reasonable participation in the system of international legal regulation and defending its national interests in the field of using outer space for national defense

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